I am just wondering . . . I used castor oil mixed with argan oil for the first time on my scalp. Left it on for two hours and washed out fairly easily with lowp oo. But I shed like the double that I normally shed. :walk: Is that something that's normal at first, or does that mean my scalp and hair do not like castor oil??? I don't know if I want to stick with it as I had a big shed for four years, that has bettered lately and I dont want to got here again.

curlytwirlykate

07-19-2013 08:40 AM

I don't know what it means for -you-, but I know that castor oil is just too sticky for my scalp to handle it. I shed like crazy every time I try to use it, and I'm extra-super gentle when rinsing it out, too.

What's your process for application and for rinsing it out? And what was your ratio of castor:argan oils?

mamaherrera

07-19-2013 11:37 AM

I used (not measured, but just an estimate) 50:50 ratio. And honestly I didn't analyze my rinse out process, I just did as always I just got my hair wet, through my lowpoo on and started washing as always. Was that not a good thing to do?? I didn't even think about having to be careful for rinsing out. But I hated to see all that hair in the drain . Maybe I'll use it no more!

curlytwirlykate

07-19-2013 02:58 PM

Hm. I know that it takes a ton of work to rinse castor oil off of my skin (and even more work to get it off my scalp!). But I know it works well for many, many people. Have you thought about trying a
Different ratio? Less Castor, more carrier?

anonymous_133347

07-19-2013 03:05 PM

When I apply castor oil to the scalp (which is not so often since I'm lazy and happy with my hair length now), I do a mix of either 50 castor and 50 coconut OR 30 castor, 35 coconut, 35 avocado. If my scalp is feeling dry I'll use a lot of the 30-35-35 and massage it in gently. Doesn't seem to cause any hair loss but it's a gentle massage. When I was just trying it out for hair growth purposes I used the 50 castor, 50 coconut oil mixture and I tried aqua_lily's routine. She dips her fingers in until they're slightly shiny and just lightly dabs at her scalp all around. A miniscule amount. So modest she doesn't even have to wash her hair afterwards. (It's a nightly routine for her and she has hip length 3A curls.) It could be the oil just added slip to hair that was already trapped between your curls and waiting to come out upon detangling. Or it could be you massaged too vigorously upon application?

mamaherrera

07-19-2013 03:05 PM

Maybe because I didnt' put a lot of oil on my scalp to begin with. I made a very small mix and my scalp didn't even appear wet, so mabye I didn't struggle too much because it was very little. If I would've used like a hair dye bottle or something, I would've been dripping wet. But now I'm scared to try again, if it caused the shed. What have you heard of as being a good rinse process???? Maybe I'll just avoid it all together if it's gonna be lots of work.

curlytwirlykate

07-19-2013 03:09 PM

Have you heard of mermaid rinsing? Just lay in a bath and gently massage your scalp. It seems to be the most gentle of all!

mamaherrera

07-19-2013 03:29 PM

No sounds good. I might have to try mermaid rinsing. Honestly when I massaged in, I did try to dab, but there were moments when I got a bit more vigorous, but like you said, maybe some hairs that were to come out in the next 2-3 days just came out a bit earlier with the extra manipulation. HOpefully I shed NOTHING (yeah right) today!! But next time I will just try dabbing, then I won't be thinking that it's my fault if I do shed high. The good thing is more of the hairs that I saw (seems long) so I don't think I pulled out any baby hairs, like you said, the added slip and all maybe just cleaned out my head of dead hairs that had been there for a while. I was doing it more for trying to reduce hair sheds than length/growth since my hair seems to grow average quickness. Maybe if it's more for hair growth, I won't do it, since my goal is different.
with the mermaid rinsing, after I lay in the tub for a while, and gently massage (it's hard for me to be gentle) than shampoo/lowpoo whatever as usual??? My husband said, also when you head oil up it opens pores, so maybe with the warm water and stimulation of your fingertips, pores opened up more. but if that were the case, EVERYONE would shed more upon washing oils out.
Thanks for all your imput

mamaherrera

07-19-2013 03:36 PM

is there a link for aqua lily's video or explanation or what she does?????

anonymous_133347

07-19-2013 07:06 PM

No. Aqua_lily, although also 3A with ridiculously long hair and despite her handle, is not the same gal as waterlily716 and, as far as I know, doesn't do youtube tutorials. She knows a lot about hair though and her hair is gorgeous enough that it should be on youtube. It's a shame I don't see her on as often as she used to be. Maybe if you find an old post you could click on her profile and then PM her. Or let me see if I have an old PM with instructions in my inbox. . . If you're scared to do it again, well, I don't blame you. I'm trying to grow my hair out long and strong to the length it was before I cut it so I hate losing more hair than usual in the shower. Scares me silly.

"Oh, I mix some EVCO and JBCO in a small bowl (with lid). I can use the mix for a while; I don't use a lot. I don't use a spoon to measure it either; I just place my finger tips in the mix, then rub my finger tips against each other for a bit so they're not DRIPPING wet (you definitely don't want to over oil yourself!). I make sure they're still very wet but I want little dripping. Then I gently massage my entire scalp with my fingers. If my fingers are dry again and I need to do other spots on my scalp, I get some new oil on my finger tips. Very simple!

That's all I do!

I only use it on my scalp, I've tried it on the rest of my hair many times but that just doesn't work for me... I get over-oiled, sticky, weird looking hair/curls (I'm fine-haired) and I just can't co-wash/low-poo every day, no time for that. My scalp just absorbs everything better. I do not feel (or see) any oil or anything the next morning when I wake up. I don't know if this is the same for everyone. I hope it'll work for you too."

FYI, aqua_lily, it did. It does. And you're awesome. I've also told close friends about it with receding edges and the like and they're following the same routine.

mamaherrera

07-20-2013 12:06 PM

Yes yesterday was a bit better with the shed, but still a bit wee high, hopefully it'll calm down now from whatever that was. And yeah I like the idea of just dabbing onto the scalp, instead of massaging cuz I don't trust myself with massages, I think I do them roughly and wrong at times. But honestly I don't think manipulation can really pull out THAT many hairs, hair is tough stuff. Unless you get in one of those b**** fights that I used to see in high school and see hair lying around after the fight. But I think most of those sheds are hairs that were gonna come out anyways. . . but I have heard of people who's scalp just doesn't like oil. Mine, for example, hates conditioner on my scalp, no way. So we'll see, I appreciate you finding that explanation for me. That will save me lots of time of looking around. I might try it once more or twice more, and if it equates to big sheds, no. BTW: do you know what she or others recommend as far as frequency of doing castor oil to see results, like once a week or twice a week?? I have also been trying onion juice on my edges, maybe I"ll stick wtih that as that didn't make me shed.